Always At War
Dec. 15th, 2008 09:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xxlucyferxxShort story, if you can call it that. 300 odd words.
“Mummy…please wake up, mummy.”
The smell of sleep and warm skin permeated the dark, still air. The silence was broken only by the slow, rhythmic sound of adults breathing. I tried again, my voice barely more than a whimper that got lost in the oppressive blackness of my parents’ bedroom. “Mummy!”
A change in the pace of my mother’s breathing. “Ashleigh? What’s wrong, darling?”
The bedside lamp flickered to life. Foolish and frightened in my too-small nightgown, I turned my eyes from the sudden glare and wrapped my arms around my skinny waist. “I had a bad dream,” I said tearfully. “You and daddy turned into robots and squashed me.” Fat, salty tears dribbled down my cheeks. It had taken me all of my courage to creep up to the bed in the dark and make sure the dream wasn’t real. But mummy felt warm and soft as she drew me into her arms – a physical proximity I usually did not allow – and I knew that she, at least, was safe. I eyed daddy cautiously; he hadn’t stirred, and I couldn’t tell yet whether he was still human too. A sharp thrill of fear ran through me. What if he had a laser gun? Would it hurt too much when he zapped us?
“Shhh, darling,” breathed mummy in my ear. “You’re all safe and sound. Daddy and I love you as big as the world. We would never, ever squash you.”
I wriggled in her embrace, distressed beyond any words that my four-year-old tongue could pronounce. “But if you were a robot, you wouldn’t love me because you wouldn’t have a heart.”
Mummy rocked me gently from side to side, shaking her head. “But we aren’t robots, Ashie. So you don’t need to worry.”
Unconvinced, I snuggled shyly into her shoulder.
“Mummy…please wake up, mummy.”
The smell of sleep and warm skin permeated the dark, still air. The silence was broken only by the slow, rhythmic sound of adults breathing. I tried again, my voice barely more than a whimper that got lost in the oppressive blackness of my parents’ bedroom. “Mummy!”
A change in the pace of my mother’s breathing. “Ashleigh? What’s wrong, darling?”
The bedside lamp flickered to life. Foolish and frightened in my too-small nightgown, I turned my eyes from the sudden glare and wrapped my arms around my skinny waist. “I had a bad dream,” I said tearfully. “You and daddy turned into robots and squashed me.” Fat, salty tears dribbled down my cheeks. It had taken me all of my courage to creep up to the bed in the dark and make sure the dream wasn’t real. But mummy felt warm and soft as she drew me into her arms – a physical proximity I usually did not allow – and I knew that she, at least, was safe. I eyed daddy cautiously; he hadn’t stirred, and I couldn’t tell yet whether he was still human too. A sharp thrill of fear ran through me. What if he had a laser gun? Would it hurt too much when he zapped us?
“Shhh, darling,” breathed mummy in my ear. “You’re all safe and sound. Daddy and I love you as big as the world. We would never, ever squash you.”
I wriggled in her embrace, distressed beyond any words that my four-year-old tongue could pronounce. “But if you were a robot, you wouldn’t love me because you wouldn’t have a heart.”
Mummy rocked me gently from side to side, shaking her head. “But we aren’t robots, Ashie. So you don’t need to worry.”
Unconvinced, I snuggled shyly into her shoulder.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-16 02:09 am (UTC)